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George H. W. Bush has died

George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States has died at 94. On Friday, Nov. 30, Bush’s death at his Houston home was announced by his son, former President George W. Bush, remembering his father as “a man of the highest character.” Since the death of his wife, Barbara Bush, in April of this year, he had been in and out of hospitals, suffering from numerous health issues. On Wednesday, Dec. 5, Bush was given a state funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.; his body was then taken to his presidential library in Texas for burial. Wednesday was declared a federal holiday, which closed the United States Postal Service, New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ as well as other federal offices.

Forbes announced the top 10 highest-paid YouTube stars of 2018

On Dec. 3, Forbes released the list of the highest-paid YouTube stars of 2018. YouTube channel “Ryan ToysReview” claimed the first place spot, earning $22 million in 2018. As the channel suggests, 7-year-old Ryan, reviews kids’ toys to an audience of more than 7 million subscribers. Last year, Forbes ranked him as the eighth highest-paid, having earned $11 million. At the end of the top 10 was Logan Paul who, in a 12-month period, earned $14.5 million; his younger brother Jake Paul claimed the second place. Forbes’ method of ranking the YouTube content creators was taking pretax earnings estimates from June 1, 2017 through June 1, 2018, based on information from Captiv8, SocialBlade and Pollstar, as well as industry insiders.

Kevin Hart to host the 2019 Oscars

Actor and comedian Kevin Hart will host the 91st Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood; it will be his first time hosting the Oscars. In an Instagram post, Hart wrote, “I will be sure to make this year[‘]s Oscars a special one […] now it’s time to rise to the occasion.” Hart will take the microphone from Jimmy Kimmel who hosted the last two award shows. The Academy announced a change they plan to implement in the February broadcast: they won’t air all 24 Oscar categories live. Rather, six to eight categories will be announced during commercial breaks; edited acceptance speech snippets will be aired later in the broadcast.

Kanye West called out for using his phone during Broadway show

On Monday, Dec. 3, The Cher Show, the jukebox musical of Cher’s life and career opened on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre to a star-studded audience, including Cher herself, as well as Kanye West and Kim Kardashian among others. In the middle of the performance, Jarrod Spector, who plays Sonny Bono, called out West on Twitter, saying “Hey @kanyewest […] If you look up from your cell phone you’ll see we’re doing a show up here. It’s opening night. Kind of a big deal for us. Thanks so much.” West later apologized for his poor etiquette in a response to Spector’s tweet: “[…] please pardon my lack of etiquette. We have so much appreciation for the energy you guys put into making this master piece.”